Pentagon Personnel and Mass Notification From AtHoc

Net-Centric Mass Notification system from AtHoc will be used at the DoD headquarters in the Pentagon

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) has deployed AtHoc IWSAlerts for its mass notification requirements. AtHoc gives PFPA a modern, IP-based, integrated alerting capability to rapidly notify personnel to ensure safety, account for their status and to protect critical infrastructure. The deployment of AtHoc represents the Pentagon’s modernization of its Computer Emergency Notification System (CENS), which was created shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

“AtHoc is delighted to provide PFPA, the agency charged with protecting the nation’s defence headquarters and leadership, a mission-proven, state-of-the-art and highly reliable mass notification system. This deployment is a culmination of AtHoc’s long standing partnership with the Department of Defence (DoD) which over the years has led to the protection of more than 1.5 million soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines, both in their home bases and in combat zones,” said Guy Miasnik, CEO and President for AtHoc.

Responsible for the security of the Pentagon, PFPA uses the AtHoc IWSAlerts mass notification solution to rapidly send alerts through its IP network to connected computers, SMS text messages to cell phones and voice alerts to office, home and mobile phones. Alerts to computer workstations override the computer screen with an intrusive audio/visual message that describes the threat, includes instructions for taking appropriate action and provides response options via bi-directional communication between the alert recipients and operators. Phone alerts appear both as text (for cell phones) and voice, allowing recipients to respond and indicate their status. All responses are aggregated and immediately communicated back to PFPA operators in their Integrated Emergency Operation Center, achieving prompt situational awareness of personnel status and accountability. The system is used not only to rapidly reach personnel within Pentagon facilities but also communicate with people while off facility for warning and recall.

AtHoc’s solution gives PFPA the unique advantage of implementing the software in its own secure private network to support mass notifications that reaches all five branches of the Pentagon cross-domain, over their respective separate networks. The internal implementation assures the security and privacy of all information used by the notification system.

Follow-on phases of the AtHoc mass notification implementation will include integration with internal Pentagon-wide communication systems such as fire protection and public address systems by SimplexGrinnell. AtHoc’s integration with the SimplexGrinnell offering delivers a modern, IP-based life-safety solution that meets the life and property protection needs of the military, universities, hospitals, federal government facilities and large commercial enterprises. This integrated solution conforms to the requirements articulated by the DoD’s Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) and the National Fire Protection Association code (NFPA 72, Chapter 24) for a net-centric Distributed Recipient Mass Notification System (DRMNS).